Sash and store front construction



Deg-28, 1937. c, LQWRY 2,103,731

SASH AND STORE FRONT CONSTRUCTION Filed May 8, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 28, 1937. c. 0. LOWRY 2,103,731

SASH AND STORE FRONT CONSTRUCTION Filed May 8, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q 7: w b w MM w Z k 1 1 W a T 3mm (up: 0. Low/av.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 C. D. LOWRY SASH AND STORE FRONT CONSTRUCTION Fiied May a, 19 7 Dec. 28, 1937.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Q i //l c. D." LOWRY SASH AND STORE FRONT CONSTRUCTION Filed May a, 1937 Dec. 28, 1937.

Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE SASH AND STORE FRONT CONSTRUCTION Application May 8, 1937, Serial No. 141,481

15 Claims.

The present invention relates to a sash and store front construction and more particularly to means suitable for supporting and holding in place a light or pane of glass.

Broadly speaking, such store front constructions consist generally of sections between which the glass is clamped, and. ordinarily one of the sections is a so-called stationary section while the other section is an adjustable section designed to be moved into clamping contact with the glass by means of an adjusting member acting'directly thereon. The installation of such devices more'often than not results in broken or strained glass due to excessive, insufficient, or non-uniform clamping pressure upon the glass. In large measure, this is because the amount of pressure to which the glass is subjected is dependent entirely upon the touch or judgment ward movement of the adjusting member.

of the installation man, with the result that sometimes the adjusting members are tightened up to an excessive degree while at other times the adjusting members are inadequately tightened, either condition being obviously objectionable. Furthermore, where fixed or rigid members are used on both sides of the glass, trouble is encountered due to expansion and contraction of the glass and the metal parts as well as to flexing of the glass induced by wind pressure and the like.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a sash and store front construction wherein the glass, regardless of its thickness, size, etc., is subjected to a predetermined amount of clamping pressure, the pressure being so applied and controlled that it is impossible for the installation man to over tighten the adjusting member in a way to place the glass under strain such as would result in breaking, chipping, or excessive straining of the glass.

The device comprises two sections between which the glass is adapted to be mounted and upon adjustment of the adjusting member, a resilient pressure is exerted upon the glass with positive stop means being provided to limit for- In fact, the construction is such that the operator, when installing the glass, always moves the adjusting member as far as he can, because in so doing the glass is held in position by a predetermined spring or resilient pressure whether the glass be one-eighth, one-quarter, or three-fourths of'an inch in thickness. Furthermore, the parts are so related when in operative position that they are not subject to accidental displacement or unauthorized tampering.

The construction and arrangement of parts are such that a piece of glass can be readily mounted and clamped into position without danger of glass breakage or improper installation. A further advantage resides in the fact that extruded metal stock can be used for the chief component parts of the construction, extruded metal being a preferred kind of material in the trade.

Other advantages are that while the pressure is applied to a. rigid member, it is not transmitted directly to the glass but rather through the intermediary of a spring or resilient member which serves as a cushion, resulting in a substantially uniform and predetermined pressure applied to the glass. Such construction also serves in the capacity of a strain or shock absorber, handling and protecting the glass from expansion, contraction, vibrations, etc.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent during the course of the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation intended to show my improved sash and store front construction in use;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view thereof on an enlarged scale showing some of the details of construction;

Fig. 3 is a. transverse section through a portion of the device being taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a similar section of a slightly modified form of construction;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating the adjusting member in retracted position;

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the adjusting member in fully adjusted position, with Fig. 6 also differing from Fig. 5 in that a thinner sheet of glass is illustrated;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged transverse section illustrating the same mounting with different thicknesses of glass; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective'view, partially insection, showing other details of construction.

Referring to Fig. l, the numeral H] designates the face of a building having a glazed opening H, the sheet of glass being held in position by means of the mounting, designated in its entirety by the numeral l2, extending around the marginal portions of said glass. In Fig. 3, the opening inwhich the sheet of glass I3 is mounted is provided with a sill l4 and a back stop l5, which serve as a seat for the back or gutter member N5 of my improved construction. As shown, the back or gutter member includes the forwardly extending horizontal base portion I! extending beyond the sill and overlying a decorative facing plate l8 mounted on the face of the building. Obviously, the invention is not restricted to the specific back stop, sill, and facing arrangement illustrated. The rear or back member I6 in Fig. 3 is held in position by means of the screws [9 or in any other preferred way. The base or plate portion ll of the back member may be formed with one or more of the grooves 20 in which caulking material can be inserted to weather-proof the installation.

Associated with the back member is the front or face piece 2| pivotally mounted upon the fulcrum or pivot member 22 carried by the portion [1 of the back member. The glass sheet i3 is thus adapted to be clamped between the lip 23 of the back member and the lip 24 of the front or face member while being supported upon the setting blocks 25, and these blocks may be of any suitable material and construction, being preferably provided with a glass contacting surface such as not to injure the edge of the glass coming in contact therewith.

Extending inwardly from the face member is a spring or other resilient arm 23 clamped at one end to the face piece by means of a plug 2'! which may be of a relatively soft metal material so that the end of the spring arm can be wedged into position, the serrated face 28 of the cavity insuring firm anchorage. This particular method of locking the tensioning arm to the face piece has proven entirely satisfactory, but of course other attaching methods can be employed and such other methods are intended to be included in this disclosure.

The opposite end of the tensioning arm carries the plate 29, as shown, and the lower side of the plate 29 (see Fig. 3) is provided with a series of teeth 3| corresponding to similar teeth 32 formed on the upstanding stop member 33 associated with the base II. An adjusting member 34, which may be in the nature of a set screw, extends through the back member as shown and in a way to contact with the upper face of the plate 29 when adjusted downwardly. It will be noted that the adjusting member is located rearwardly of the glass sheet I 3 so that the clamping of the glass is effected by adjustment on the interior of the glazed opening, thus preventing unauthorized tampering with the adjusted front section. Obviously, this explanation is being made in connection with the sash members arranged along the lower edge of the glass l3, although the same construction is used for the other three sides of the glazed opening shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6, in Fig. 5, the

glass sheet I3 is shown in position, and for sake of clarity the setting blocks 25 have been eliminated in all views except Figs. 2 and 3, although it will be understood that they or their equivalents are always used in actual practice. The glass, as stated, is in position in Fig. 5 and the front member 2| has been pivotedaround the fulcrum 22 so that the lip 24 is in contact with the glass. The tension arm 29 has not been moved out of its normal relaxed position and except for the slight effect of gravity, the arm is not under tension. With the parts in the position as illustrated, the face member 2| could be moved out of contact with the glass and the glass taken from the opening. To hold the glass in mounted position, the adjusting member is screwed downwardly so that its'lower end will contact with the plate 29, and upon continued adjustment of said member 34, the plate will be pushed down against the positive stop 33. When so adjusted, the teeth of the plate 29 engage the teeth of the stop 33, looking themselves, so to speak, thus preventing any further, forward ad justment of said plate. From the moment the adjusting member first contacts the plate 29, the tensioning arm is bent or deflected from its normal straight position, thus exerting a spring or resilient pressure upon the glass. The tensioning arm can be formed from any suitable material, such as spring steel, having specifications such that the tens'ioning member will cause flexing thereof and consequent resilient clamping of the glass sheet between the lips 23 and 24. After the teeth referred to have intermeshed, the plate apply destructive pressures upon the glass.

The final adjustment is illustrated in Fig. 6.;

and it will be seen that the positive stop is effective and the spring arm is curved out of its normal flat plane. Actually, the only pressure playing upon the glass is that pressure brought about by flexing of the tensioning arm and the construction of the device is such that this flexible pressure is sufiicient to firmly hold the. glass in proper position but insufiicient to result in any damage to the glass or its mounting. V Guard lock mechanism is provided to prevent accidental displacement of the face member from its fulcrum support. The guard lock is created by extending the positive stop member 33 to form a curved face 35 struck on an are from the fulcrum support 22. The face member terminates in a rounded end 36 having a curvature corresponding to that of the face 35. Also, the. base plate i'i terminates in the upstanding flange 37 having a curved face 33 also struck on an are from the fulcrum 22 as is the face 39 formed on the face piece 21. as the face member is rocked on the fulcrum, the curved faces just described will be in sliding contact with one another and when the adjusting member is in sheet holding position, the face member cannot be pried from its intended adjustment. Drainage openings 49 extend through the base plate i! to prevent accumulation of water, etc. on the interior of the sash construction. Likewise, the back member is shaped to constitute a gutter 41 to take care of condensation or other moisture accumulation that may run from the rear face of the glass when in use. 7

The back section i6 including the lip 23, base member 17, positive stop 33, fulcrum 22, and flange 31, can be extruded as an integral construction and aluminum alloy has been found to be well adapted for this purpose. The face member 2i and also the plate 29 can be extruded stock. It is not necessary that these metal sections be of extruded material but, as already mentioned, extruded constructions are given preference in the trade to such types as rolled metal, etc.

To remove the glass for any purpose, the adjusting members 34 are backedoff whereupon the It can be readily appreciated that of resilient or spring pressure application, pivtension ing arm will straighten, and if the adjusting member is retracted far enough, the face member can be swung about its pivotal support to allow withdrawal of the glass from the opening.

As is more clearly shown in Fig. 8, the face member is provided with a plurality of spring arms'26 in lieu of a single spring arm. It is not necessary to have a continuous spring extending throughout the entire length of the face member. The positive stop member 33 is formed as a continuous web and in practice the springs 26 and associated parts can be mounted upon the face member'at spaced intervals, with adjusting member 34 being provided for each of said spring arms and plates carried thereby. When mounting a sheet of glass, the operator places it upon the setting blocks, moving the sheet against the rear lip 23 and then swings the face member into contact with the glass. All of the adjusting members 34 are then tightened to their maximum limit, and without any necessity for discretion on the part of the installation man, the glass is uniformly and satisfactorily spring clamped into position.

Fig. '7 is intended to emphasize the versatile nature of the construction. In full lines is illustrated a thick sheet of glass A. The face piece illustrated in full lines B is moved so that its glass contacting lip is quite far away from the back member lip. The showing in full lines of the spring arm. is such that the adjusting member has not been advanced to locking position, but from the foregoing description it is apparent that the plate is moved downwardly until it strikes the positive stop.

In dotted lines is shown a thin sheet of glass C, and the dotted lines of the spring arm and associated plate D illustrates the position of the face piece and parts carried thereby when swung into contacting relation with the thin sheet of glass C. To permanently hold the glass C in position, the adjusting member is then moved downwardly where the plate assumes the position shown in dash and dot lines E.

It can be seen from this showing that the throw of the spring arm is substantially the same whether thick or thin sheets of glass are being mounted, and it has been found that both kinds of glass can be permanently held in position without making any changes in the construction.

In Fig. 4 a modified showing'is made wherein the pivotal member 42 has a ball and socket connection 43 with the base plate 44 carried by the back member. The pivotal member 42 does not contact directly with the glass sheet but rather carries a face plate 45 of proper architectural design, the face plate being clamped between the glass sheet and the rounded end 46 of the member 42. The principle is the same in that a spring arm 4'! is carried by the member 42 and a plate 48 is in turn carried by the opposite end of the spring arm. The adjusting member 49 is employed to move the plate 48 against the positive stop 50, the plate 48 and stop 50 having engaging teeth as in the case of the design of the other drawings. Upon movement of the arm 42, the face plate 45 is sli-d horizontally, the lower end 5| sliding under the projection 52 of the base 44.

Fig. 4 is intended to show the same principle otal association of the front and back members,

crushing or cracking of the glass due to faulty manipulation by the operator.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as the preferred embodiment of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and. arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a sash or store front construction, the combination of a fixed section and a movable section adapted to receive and grip a'pane of glass therebetween,. spring means carried by the movable'section, a rigid member carried by the spring means, an adjusting member for acting upon the said rigid member to urge the sections into yielding engagement with the pane of glass, and means for limiting the movement of the said rigid member to prevent excessive pressure from being applied by the sections to the pane of glass.

2. In a sash or store front construction, the combination of a fixed section and a movable section adapted to receive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, a spring arm carried by the movable section, a toothed member associated with one end of the spring arm, an adjusting member acting upon the toothed member to urge the sections into yielding engagement with the pane of glass, and a toothed stop member against which the said toothed member comes to rest for limiting the amount of pressure applied to the pane of glass.

3. In a sashor store front construction, the combination of a fixed section and a movable section adapted to receive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, a spring arm permanently mounted at one end on the inner side of the movable member, a rigid member carried by the opposite end of said spring arm, adjusting means for acting upon the rigid member to move the movable section into yielding engagement with the pane of glass, and a positive stop to limit the yieldingpressure applied to said pane of glass.

4. In a sash or store front construction, the

combination of a fixed section and amovable section adapted to receive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, a spring arm permanently mounted at one end on the inner side of the movable member, a rigid member carried by the opposite end of said spring arm, adjusting means for acting upon the rigid member to move the movable section into yielding engagement with the pane of glass, and a positive stop associated with the fixed section to arrest movement of the L for moving the rigid member into contact with the stop member to resiliently hold the pane of glass in position.

6. In a sash or store front construction, the combination of a fixed section and a movable section adapted to receive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, a spring arm fixed at one end. to the movable section, a rigid member carried by the opposite end of the spring arm, a cooperating stop member for said rigid member, and means for moving the rigid member into contact with the stop member to resiliently-hold the pane of glass in position, said rigid member and cooperating stop member having cooperating interlocking projections thereon.

.7. In a sash or store front construction, the combination of a fixed section and a movable section adapted to receive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, a spring arm extending inwardly from the movable section, a rigid member carried by the innermost end of the spring arm, a positive stop member associated with the fixed member, and an adjusting member carried by the fixed section to urge the said rigid member carried by the spring arm into contact with the fixed stop to hold the movable section in yielding engagement against the pane of glass.

8. In a sash or store front construction, the combination of a fixed section and a movable section adapted to receive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, a spring arm extending inwardly from the movable section, a rigid member carried by the innermost end of the spring arm, a positive stop member associated with the fixed member, and an adjusting member carried by the fixed section to urge the said rigid member carried by the spring arm into contact with the 'fixed stop to hold the movable section in yielding engagement against the pane of glass, the said rigid member and fixed stop having cooperating interlocking portions carried thereby.

9. In a sash or store front construction, a fixed section and a movable section associated therewith and relatively movable with respect to said fixed section, and means for clamping a pane of glass between said sections including a spring element fixed at one end to the movable section and having its opposite end extending beneath the pane of glass toward the fixed section, a rigid member carried by the latter-mentioned end of the spring element, an adjusting member for acting upon said rigid member to urge the movable section into yielding engagement with the pane of glass, and a positive stop for restricting forward movement of the adjusting member.

10. In a sash or store front construction, a fixed section and a movable section associated therewith and relatively movable with respect to said fixed section, and means for clamping a pane of glass between said sections including a spring element fixed at one end to the movable section and having its opposite end extending beneath the pane of glass toward the fixed section, a rigid member carried by the latter-mentioned end of the spring element, an adjusting member for acting upon said rigid member to urge the movable section into yielding engagement with the pane of glass, and a positive stop carried by the fixed section and against which the said rigid member is moved upon forward movement of the adjusting member.

11. In a sash or store front construction, a fixed section and a movable section associated therewith and relatively movable with respect to said fixed section, and means for clamping a pane of glass between said sections including a spring element fixed at one end to the movable section and having its opposite end extending beneath the pane of glass toward the fixed section, a rigid member carried by the lattermentioned end of the spring element, an adjusting member for acting upon said rigid member to urge the movable section into yielding engagement with the pane of glass, and a positive stop carried by the fixed section and against which the said rigid member is moved upon forward movement of the adjusting member, the rigid member and stop member having cooperating interlocking portions carried thereby.

12. In a sash or store front construction, a fixed pane holding section, a movable pane holding section pivotally associated with said fixed section, said sections being adapted to receive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, an adjusting member carried by the fixed section, resilient means carried by the movable section and having a rigid end acted upon by said. adjusting means for 'transmiting movement thereof to the movable section to urge it into yielding engagement with the pane of glass, and a fixed stop for limiting the movement of the adjusting means to prevent the amount of pressure exerted by the sections upon the pane of glass from exceeding a substantially predetermined maximum.

13. In a sash or store front construction, a fixed pane holding section, a movable pane holding section pivotally associated with said fixed section, said sections being adapted toreceive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, an adjusting member carried by the fixed section, resilient means carried by the movable section and having a rigid toothed end which is acted upon by the adjusting means for transmitting movement thereof to the movable section to urge it the application of excessive pressure upon the pane of glass.

14. In a sash or store front construction, the combination of a fixed section and a movable section adapted to receive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, spring means carried by the movable section, an adjusting member carried by the fixed section acting upon spring means to urge the movable section into yielding engagement with the glass'pane, and means acting as a positive stop for limiting the movement of the spring means to prevent excessive presure from being applied to the glass, said spring means and stop means having cooperating interlocking projections thereon.

15. In a sash or store front construction, the combination of a fixed section and a movable section adapted to receive and grip a pane of glass therebetween, spring means carried by the movable section, an adjusting member carried by the fixed section acting upon spring means to urge the movable section into yielding engagement with the glass pane, and means acting as a positive stop for limiting the movement of the spring means to prevent excessive pressure from being applied to the glass, said spring means interlocking with said stop means when moved, into engagement therewith.

CLYDE D. LOWRY. 

